


Better

by ShowMeAHero



Series: burgers and cars (the diner and garage au) [2]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Diners, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Domestic, Domestic Fluff, Fluff, Garages, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Poe Dameron Hurts So Prettily, Sickfic, Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-18
Updated: 2016-01-18
Packaged: 2018-05-14 17:44:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,596
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5752420
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShowMeAHero/pseuds/ShowMeAHero
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Finn's flying blind here when Poe comes down with the flu and neither of them are quite sure how to handle it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Better

**Author's Note:**

> A sequel to "Got The Taste For It"! I might just keep writing this series tbh. I'm a little in love with it.
> 
> Title taken from ["I Wanna Get Better" by Bleachers](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o5osPtE7kXI), if you can count it.

Finn woke up to the alarm clock blaring horrifically right next to his head. Poe groaned into Finn’s chest, pulling the covers up over his head. Finn reached out blindly, smacking the alarm off the nightstand. It did stop screaming once the plug ripped out of the wall, though, and Poe blinked up at him blearily.

“I don’t want to go to work,” Poe grumbled, and Finn kissed his forehead. He paused, then frowned down at him.

“You’re hot,” Finn commented, and Poe smirked at him.

“ _You’re_ hot,” Poe said back, winking up at him before heaving himself out of bed. Finn shivered at the rush of cold air as Poe grabbed his bathrobe and tugged it on, hiding the expanse of bare skin that Finn had previously been staring at. Finn dragged himself out of their bed, grabbing his own robe and following after Poe to the shower. BB-8 looked up at them tiredly from his dog bed in the corner of their bedroom before he tucked his head under one of his paws and went back to sleep.

“What time is it?” Poe asked tiredly, glancing out the bathroom window at the still-dark dawn sky. Finn stuck his head out of the bathroom door and squinted at the clock on the stove in the kitchen.

“5:35,” Finn told him, and Poe groaned as he turned on the water in their shower.

“This is ungodly,” Poe said, shucking off his bathrobe and hanging it up on the back of the door. Finn watched him, immensely distracted. “Why did I open a garage? Nothing makes sense anymore.”

“Mmm,” Finn hummed. Poe stuck his hand under the stream of water in the shower before he stepped in. He stuck his head out of the curtain a moment later.

“You coming?” he asked, and Finn tripped and got stuck in his bathrobe trying to get out of it too quickly. Poe laughed at him and vanished behind the curtain again, singing to himself. Finn finally managed to undress himself and hang up his bathrobe next to Poe’s. He jumped up into the shower, then immediately flinched when the water hit him like freezing rain.

“Oh, what the fuck, Poe?” Finn exclaimed, reaching around him to turn the hot water up. Poe smiled at him as he stuck his head under the spray to get his hair wet.

“I’m trying to wake myself up,” Poe said. “It’s not so bad.”

“You’re a liar and an animal,” Finn told him, and Poe laughed before pulling away from Finn to cough into the crook of his arm. Finn grabbed Poe’s shampoo bottle and squeezed some of it into his hand before starting to work it into Poe’s hair. Poe leaned his forehead against Finn’s shoulder, sighing.

“You’re so nice,” Poe murmured against his skin, and Finn grinned widely.

“Finish cleaning yourself, you have to go to work and I have to go back to sleep since I don’t have to be at the diner until eight,” Finn said. Poe leaned back to rinse his hair while Finn set to work on soaping them both up, which ended up with them taking turns blowing each other before they finally got clean enough to get out. Finn dried himself off as best as he could before returning to their bedroom and crawling back in bed.

“You’re such a loafer,” Poe commented, tugging on his jeans, and Finn waved at him from under the covers.

“See you in two hours,” Finn replied, and Poe kissed the top of his head. He plugged their alarm clock back in and set Finn’s alarm for him before leaving the room. Finn heard him say goodbye to BB-8 before he left the apartment, the door shutting softly behind him. He listened for the roar of his motorcycle and the squealing of his tires as he peeled out of the lot behind their building. Once he was totally gone, BB-8 jumped up into the bed with Finn, snuggling under the blankets with him. Finn was out like a light in seconds.

When his alarm went off an hour and a half later, BB-8 licked his face until he turned it off and got out of bed. He dressed quickly, pulling his head through the armhole on his t-shirt before he realized. By the time he was dressed, BB-8 was nosing forcefully at his leg. He went to the kitchen, gave BB-8 his breakfast, and started making two omelettes. He packed up Poe’s vegetable-heavy nightmare of an omelette before he sat down at their table to eat his own. BB-8 sat next to him, leaning his head against Finn’s leg while he ate. Finn offered him pieces of sausage.

By the time Finn had taken BB-8 outside, located his shoes, brushed his teeth, and packed up his satchel, it was nearly time to leave. He took BB-8 down to his bike and situated him in the basket on the front of it. He fastened BB-8’s helmet to the dog’s head before he pedaled off for the diner.

“Good morning!” Rey exclaimed, riding up to the diner on her own bike just as Finn got there. She abandoned her bike right on the sidewalk to run over and lift BB-8 out of the basket. “And how are you?” BB-8 barked and licked her face, making her laugh and set him down on the ground.

“Hey, Rey,” Finn said, holding out an arm, and Rey hugged him tightly before returning to her bike. The two of them locked them up outside the diner.

“Do you want to do something for dinner tonight?” Rey asked, helping Finn get his hand loose from the bike lock he had gotten himself stuck in. He adjusted his satchel and nodded.

“Sounds good,” Finn agreed. “Maybe I can make chicken fried steak, if you want to come over.”

“Oh, fuck yes,” Rey exclaimed, and Finn laughed at her as BB-8 started ramming his head into Finn’s shins.

“Yeah, yeah, I’ll bring you over to Poe, calm down,” Finn told him, and BB-8 barked at him. He turned to Rey. “I’ll be right back.”

“Roger that, chief,” Rey said, leaving him to head into the diner. Finn snapped his fingers and BB-8 snapped to attention and followed him over to Dameron’s Hangar. He hooked BB-8 up to his leash outside and knocked on the back door. Jessika answered, smiling when she saw him on the other side.

“Boyfriend’s here, Boss,” she called over her shoulder, and Poe wheeled out from under the car he was working on, covered in grease and grinning up at Finn.

“Hey! You guys get here okay?” Poe asked, casting around for his rag before he finally located it in his back pocket. He stood, wiping off his hands, and he kissed Finn’s cheek when he got close enough.

“All in one piece,” Finn assured him. “BB-8’s outside.” He fished Poe’s omelette out of his satchel and handed it over. Poe groaned.

“Oh, fuck, I love you,” Poe said, kissing him on the mouth this time before pulling the top off the Tupperware container. “ _Yes._ Nice.”

“That’s what I like to hear,” Finn replied. Poe turned his head away to cough into his arm again. “Are you feeling alright?”

“Oh, yeah, absolutely, just a little bit of a sore throat,” Poe assured him, sitting down on the concrete floor and starting on his omelette. “Don’t worry about it, it’s not a big deal.”

“If you say so,” Finn said. He bent down to kiss the top of Poe’s head, and Poe tilted his head back to beam up at him. Finn kissed him before leaving him to his work. He pat BB-8 on the head before heading to work at the diner. Slip and Maz both high-fived him as he tied on his apron, and Mr. Skywalker clapped him on the shoulder.

“How’s the boy?” Rey asked, once Finn had made his way out to the front of the Outer Rim. Finn shrugged, grinning, and started organizing the menus. Rey punched him on the arm. “I’m glad you’re so happy.”

“Me, too.” Finn glanced up at Rey, then tried to act as casually as he could. “Jess looked happy when I saw her this morning. Do you have anything to do with that?”

“I hate you sometimes,” Rey said, yanking him into a headlock. Finn pulled at her until he lifted her over his shoulder and turned her back onto her feet, Rey laughing the whole time.

“You didn’t answer my question,” he pointed out, once they were orderly again. Rey punched him on the arm again, harder this time. Finn scowled at her, but she smiled so sweetly at him that he had to smile back, even though he knew she was just playing him. She kissed his cheek, and they both went back to work.

Poe usually tended to come in around noon to have lunch, Jessika in tow more often than not. Today, however, noon came and went without a sign of either of them - or even Snap, for that matter. By one o’clock, Finn and Rey were shooting each other concerned looks across the diner, and Mr. Skywalker sighed at them.

“Go check next door,” Mr. Skywalker instructed them, and Finn and Rey left through the back door. BB-8 barked at them, running up to lick at their hands once they got close enough, and Jessika met them at the back door.

“I was just on my way to come get you,” Jessika said, and Finn frowned, looking over her shoulder.

“Where’s Poe?” Finn asked, and Jessika hesitated before moving out of the doorway and leading him through the garage to the back rooms.

“He’s through there,” Jessika told him, and Finn left her there to wind through the back rooms. He found Poe sitting on the floor in the corner of the bathroom in the dark. Finn flicked the light on, and Poe flinched, hiding his face in his folded arms and groaning.

“Poe?” Finn asked, stomach dropping, and Poe squinted up at him, letting his head fall back against the wall. Finn switched the light off again.

“Did Jess call you? I told her not to call you,” Poe grumbled, burying his face back in his arms. Finn approached him hesitantly, not entirely sure yet what was wrong.

“What happened?” Finn asked, crouching down next to him, and Poe blinked up at him.

“I got sick,” Poe eventually admitted. “But it’s not a big deal. I probably just ate too fast earlier.”

Finn reached out and pressed the back of his hand to Poe’s forehead. “Shit, Poe, you’re burning up.”

“I’m _fine_ ,” Poe insisted. He jerked forward suddenly, shoving Finn away so he could haul himself up over the toilet and heave into it. Finn managed to maneuver one of the elastic bands off of Poe’s wrist and pull his hair back into a bun for him. When Poe eventually sat back against the wall, catching his breath, Finn pushed loose strands of hair away from his sweaty forehead before he kissed his temple and stood.

“I’m gonna have Jessika call us a cab, I’m taking you home,” Finn told him, and Poe swatted at him weakly before he pulled himself up over the toilet again. Finn rubbed his back and waited for him to finish before he went to find Jessika and ask her to call a taxi for them.

“I’ll tell Mr. Skywalker you’re taking the day,” Rey assured him. Finn kissed her cheek and handed over his apron. When the taxi got there, Finn hauled Poe up to his feet, worked him into his jacket, and carried most of his weight as he led him out to the cab. Rey met them out there with Finn’s jacket, his satchel, and BB-8 on a leash. She assisted him in manhandling Poe into the back of the cab before helping BB-8 jump in, his fat little legs too small to get him in on his own. The cabbie eyed the dog but said nothing. Rey kissed the top of Poe’s head and returned to the diner.

“We’re just gonna get you back home, okay? It’s not that far,” Finn assured Poe, sliding into the cab and shutting the door behind him. Poe shut his eyes against the sunlight and buried his face in Finn’s chest. “Not sick, my ass.”

Poe smacked feebly at Finn’s chest before exhaling slowly and pulling the edge of Finn’s jacket up and over his head. They managed to make it to their apartment building without incident, at which point BB-8 bolted up the stairs ahead of them to their floor. Poe eyed the stairs with extreme trepidation, so Finn hauled him up onto his back and carried him up the stairs to their door. He managed to clean Poe up, change him into pajamas, and set him up on the bathroom floor, wrapped in their comforter and mostly asleep.

“You have to tell me when you’re feeling sick, man,” Finn told him, rooting through their medicine cabinet for their thermometer. Poe grumbled something unintelligible at him. “I’m serious, buddy. I have no idea what I’m doing here. I need time to prepare, I don’t know, Google some shit. You could be dying, I have no idea.”

“I’m not dying,” Poe argued. Finn poked at his jaw until he opened his mouth enough for Finn to slip the thermometer under his tongue. He waited patiently for it to beep. “It’s probably just a cold or something.”

“Stop talking,” Finn instructed, and Poe shut his mouth again until the thermometer beeped and Finn pulled it out. “Okay, it says 103. Is that bad? That’s gotta be bad. It’s not _good_.”

“Finn-”

“I’m gonna Google it,” Finn told him, fishing his phone out of his pocket and tapping into Google. “Google says you have a high-grade fever but you don’t have to go to a hospital unless it keeps going up.”

“It was 104 when Jess checked an hour ago, so it’s probably fine,” Poe told him, and Finn looked down at him, exasperated.

“Goddamnit, Poe,” Finn said, and Poe grinned tiredly at him, eyes only barely open, hair still pulled back in a tangled mess. Finn sighed, locking his phone and putting it away so he could tug Poe against his chest. Poe relaxed into his hold. Finn leaned against the bathroom wall, Poe curled up and mostly in his lap, and let Poe sleep, BB-8 standing guard at the bathroom door. The dog fell asleep, too, after about ten minutes, and Finn just stayed awake and watched over Poe.

Poe woke up four separate times to vomit again, but, by the fourth time, he was mostly just dry heaving, and he didn’t wake up again for an hour after that, so Finn picked him up and carried him, comforter and all, into their bedroom. He settled him against the pillows, tucking the comforter around his curled-up body, and left him to call Rey.

“Gonna have to take a rain check on dinner,” Finn told her when she picked up.

“Awh, poor guy,” Rey said. “I’ll bring you something to eat after I get off work, and I’ll pick up some medicine or something for him, if you want.”

“Thanks so much, man,” Finn said. “I’ll pay you back.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Rey brushed him off. “Just make me that chicken fried steak you promised once he’s better and it’s all square. I’d buy out an entire _pharmacy_ for your chicken fried steak, I swear.”

“Thanks again, man,” Finn laughed. “See you later?”

“I got my key, I’ll let myself in,” Rey told him. “Tell Poe I hope he feels better!”

“Will do,” Finn said. “Bye.”

“Bye-bye,” Rey answered, and Finn hung up. He made his way back to their bedroom, where he found BB-8 curled up at the foot of their bed, Poe mostly asleep at the head. Finn climbed in and wrapped himself around Poe, pushing his sweaty hair back from his face. Poe smiled up at him, barely awake. Finn slept lightly, keeping one ear on Poe.

Rey let herself in a couple of hours later, and Finn extricated himself from Poe’s hold to meet her in the kitchen. She tossed Finn the keys to Poe’s motorcycle, telling him it was downstairs. She unpacked three to-go containers of Maz’s special soup from the diner and handed over a couple of bottles of Gatorade, along with a bunch of Tylenol and Vicks containers. Finn opened the cabinet where the bowls were and left her to her own devices while he brought the medicine in to Poe.

“Hey,” Finn whispered, stroking the side of Poe’s face, his skin hot under his fingers. Poe groaned and turned his face into his pillow. “Hey, I know you don’t want to wake up, but Rey brought you some medicine and Gatorade and soup and stuff.”

“No,” Poe mumbled into his pillow. Finn pulled lightly at his chin until Poe looked up at him.

“You just gotta take the medicine, drink a little Gatorade, have a little broth,” Finn told him. “Nothing much, just ten minutes and you can go back to sleep.”

“Hello,” Rey said from the doorway, bringing in a bowl of soup and one of the Gatorades. Poe watched her blearily as she set the bowl of soup on the nightstand. “How’re you feeling?”

“Shitty,” Poe answered, and Rey laughed. She cracked the Gatorade open and handed it over to Finn, who helped Poe sit up enough to drink a little bit of it. He managed to get Poe to take his capsules and have a little bit of the soup before he fell back asleep. Finn led Rey out of the bedroom and back to the kitchen, where they dug into their own soups.

“Do you want me to stay over?” Rey asked, chasing a good chunk of meat around her bowl, trying to trap it on her spoon. Finn shook his head, frowning as all of his noodles slipped off his spoon and back into his bowl.

“Nah, we’ll be fine,” Finn assured her, even though he kind of agreed she would disagree and insist on staying. She nodded and kept telling him what else had happened at the diner after he had left in the afternoon. By the time night rolled around, Rey kissed his cheek, packed up her backpack, and left for home. Finn Googled flu symptoms and treatments on his phone as he headed back for their bedroom. He brought a cold, wet washcloth and a bowl of cold water and settled the washcloth on Poe’s forehead. Poe flinched, eyes shooting open, and Finn shushed him.

“Google says I have to cool you down to keep your temperature down,” Finn told him quietly. Poe glared up at him.

“I’m cold, my fever’s gone,” Poe told him, and Finn frowned, touching Poe’s cheeks.

“No, you’ve just got chills,” Finn said, and Poe pulled the comforter tighter around himself. Finn let him keep that, but drew the line when he tried to get up to get the quilt from the sofa in the living room. Poe drifted back asleep after a couple minutes of bleary arguing. Finn kept dabbing at his forehead with the washcloth, and tried not to be as scared and worried as he was.

He fell asleep at some point, wrapped around Poe, draped over his back, body curling around his as his subconscious pushed him and struggled to keep Poe safe. When the sunlight woke Finn up the next morning, shining hot and bright on his face, he groaned and threw his arm up over his eyes. Poe shifted under him, still mostly asleep.

“You want something to eat?” Finn asked, and Poe rubbed tiredly at his eyes before nodding. Finn disentangled himself from Poe and the comforter to go heat up Poe’s soup and bring it and another Gatorade back to their bedroom. He gave Poe medicine first, then Gatorade, as he pressed the back of his hands to Poe’s cheeks, then his forehead.

“I think your fever broke,” Finn informed him, helping Poe to sit up against their headboard, the pillows propped up between his back and the bed. He handed the soup over, and Poe fed himself, slowly. “You have to tell me if you’re not feeling well, Poe. I’m kinda flying blind here.”

Poe swallowed a mouthful of broth and looked up at Finn. “So am I,” he said, voice scratchy. He cleared his throat, but it barely helped. “My mom’s been gone since I was eight. My dad was never the same after he got back from fighting. I’m not really…” Poe trailed off, watching Finn carefully. “I guess I’m just not used to it.”

“Well, get used to it,” Finn said, making Poe laugh, “because that’s what I’m here for. And you’re here for me, and that’s how it works.”

“In sickness and in health,” Poe said, before catching himself, biting his lip and looking down at his soup. Finn grinned, heart thumping hard in his chest.

“As long as we both shall live,” Finn said back, and Poe looked up at him and smiled wide, face going red as he took another spoonful of broth. Finn pulled him in to kiss his forehead, smiling against his skin. “You do feel less warm. No less hot, though.”

“You’re too much,” Poe grumbled light-heartedly, and Finn shoved at him before making him drink more Gatorade and go back to sleep.

**Author's Note:**

> You can follow me on Twitter at [@nicoIodeon](https://twitter.com/nicoIodeon) or on Tumblr at [andillwriteyouatragedy](http://andillwriteyouatragedy.tumblr.com/).


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